Carry On
by WinterBarrows
Summary: In the battle of her life, Arme fights with Kaze'aze, despite all that she's lost. Though she may think the war with evil is through, is it ever really done with you? Between the throes of sorrow, can Arme take back all that she's lost, or will her curse keep her from achieving her goals?
1. The Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own Grand Chase, nor do I own this song. All I own is this story.

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_Here I'm standing  
In the night_

I stood facing Kaze'aze, my sweaty palms trembling as I held my staff tight, cowering behind it slightly. Kaze'aze let out a booming laugh, shaking me to my core. It took all my strength to stay there and look her in the eye, and not run as far as I could from this damned castle. I took a deep, steadying breath, and pointed my wand at her.

"Savor that laugh, Kaze'aze, for it will be the last one you'll ever have."

Kaze'aze laughed more, a high, ear-piercing cackling that edged away at what little strength I had built up. "You think that you, one, sole, little mage, can defeat me, Kaze'aze, the Queen of Darkness?"

Her words pierced through the lies I told myself. I was alone here, utterly alone. Not one of my friends had made it this far. I had watched them all die, painfully, for me. Dieing so that I could go on, that I could come face to face with Kaze'aze, and defeat her once and for all. They sacrificed their selves. _What if I fail? Will their sacrifices be for nothing? _My mind started going on a horrible tailspin down, my strength diminishing to dust before me very own eyes.

I was shocked when I heard Elesis' voice in my head. "You stupid little magey! If you think that you can't win, you _won't_! You need to have faith, believe that you'll win or you'll accomplish nothing! And I don't take kindly to sacrificing myself for nothing!"

_My crescent wand  
The only light_

I smiled. She was right. For once. Knowing she was still with me made me truly believe I could do this. My staff lit up with power, and I looked at Kaze'aze with a new light in my eyes. "Kaze'aze, I know I can beat you. I'm stronger than you'll ever be!"

"You fool! Then you'll die, just like every one of your dear friends before you!" Kaze'aze shot her hands out at me, sending a blast of dark power towards me.

_Alone against my darkest fear  
But I sense my friends are near_

I didn't try to dodge. I knew it would be pointless; there was nowhere to dodge to. Instead, I gripped my staff tightly, closed my eyes, concentrated as hard as I could, and sent everything I had back against her, my white power clashing with her dark power. From then on, it became a struggle of will. She would push, and the darkness would come closer to me. I'd push back, and the light would force the darkness away from me.

She threw her hands in a flinging motion, and I felt my resolve weaken. _I can't do this. She's too strong. _The thoughts made me flinch, and my white magic ball receded, letting Kaze'aze's dark magic ball come closer.

_I'll draw from each the power I need  
Evil Queen we will defeat_

I was awaken from my thoughts from a hand being placed on mine. I looked beside me, and saw Lire. I gasped, but she just smiled. "You mustn't give up. All of Bermesiah is counting on you. Don't let yourself think negatively, just counter her." She was stern, yet kind with her words. She gripped my arm with one hand, and with the other, placed her hand atop mine, granting me her strength.

"Thank you, Lire." I closed my eyes, took another deep breath, and _pushed_, with all my might, back at Kaze'aze. She growled, but didn't let up.

_Give me the strength  
To carry on_

We were in a sort of reverse tug-of-war, Kaze'aze's face in an awful grimace, Lire's face reflecting one of pain, and mine one of hopelessness. I was running out of energy, out of strength. I tried my best to keep my mind solely focused on defeating Kaze'aze, but it was hard. Tears were streaming down my face.

I felt a hand wipe them away, and turned to Lire automatically. But she was looking to the other side of me, with her gentle smile back on her face. I followed her gaze, and saw Ronan standing there beside me. "Don't cry, Arme. You can do this! You're a magician prodigy; this should be nothing for you!" His kind voice warmed my heart.

Kaze'aze's dark magic got closer. Closer than it had so far. I gasped, as my thoughts suddenly became not of my own will. I was back at Hell's Bridge, Elesis and Ronan the last two remaining friends at my side. Ronan turned to Elesis and yelled, "I'll distract him, then you go in for the finish!"

Elesis nodded, and turned to me. "When I get close enough to him to deal the final blow, cast Stone Curse on him. I'd like to see how he deals with a taste of his own medicine!" She gave her trademark smirk, and charged after Ronan into battle. I stood back and casted Firebolts, healing Ronan and Elesis when they needed it.

Ronan ran around Gardosen, making sure to keep Gardosen's focus on him. He got close to a ledge, with what seemed like a bottomless pit below it.

"Now, Elesis!" the Spell Knight called out. Elesis charged at him, and I casted Stone Curse. Gardosen quickly became trapped in stone, and Elesis charged up a mighty swing, aiming to break him right in half while he was still stone.

Unfortunately, the plan backfired, and he broke out right before Elesis hit him. The Knight's attack hit him square in the back, and Gardosen fell forward with the momentum. Ronan was still between him and the ledge, and wasn't quite quick enough to get out of the way. Gardosen fell over the ledge, and took Ronan with him.

Someone screamed. It was a few seconds before I realized it was me. I ran over to the ledge, but Elesis was quicker than I was.

"Ronan!" She called down. When I got to the edge, I saw that Ronan was still there, hanging onto a small ledge with one hand. Gardosen was no where to be seen, but that didn't seem important at the time being. The ledge wasn't strong enough to hold all of the Spell Knight's weight. He was going to fall.

"Ronan, hold on! We'll get something for you to grab onto and pull you up!" Elesis sounded hysterical. She turned towards me, "Quick! Go find something! Hurry!"

I had never seen Elesis cry before, but right at that moment, there were tears pouring out of her eyes. She didn't bother wiping them. I went to stand up and follow her orders, but stopped me.

"There's no point, Elesis. There's nothing around here. I'm going to fall." He seemed so calm, knowing death was only a few mere minutes away.

"No! You can't die! I can't lose you too…" Elesis' voice faded away.

_With all our love  
We can't go wrong_

Ronan let out one last gentle smile, directed at Elesis. "Elesis, promise me you'll remember one thing for me." He said quietly.

"Anything!" The Knight cried out hysterically.

"I love you. I'll always love you. Please, don't ever forget that." He closed his eyes as he finished his last words, as the ledge finally crumbled away, and he fell. Down, down, down, we watched him fall in horror.

Elesis was too shocked to even say anything. She just starred, wide-eyed, at the place Ronan was last seen. After a few quiet minutes, she chocked out "I love you too." And burst into tears, sobbing louder than I'd ever heard someone sob before. I hugged her, and cried too. We sat there, crying for a while; I wasn't sure how much time went by.

Elesis finally stood up, a new look of determination on her face. "Come on, Arme. We have an Evil Queen to take care of."

I snapped out of the painful memory, the whole thing only taking up a few seconds of time. Ronan looked at me, a sad look on his face. "I asked you not to cry." He said, softly. I sniffed, nodded, and looked back at Kaze'aze. She had a wicked smile on her face.

"You haven't won yet, Kaze'aze!" I called out to her, and swung my staff in a wide motion, gathering my strength behind it. I had new resolve now, too. I would win.

_Only together  
We face the fight_

"Good girl, Arme! You can do this! Do this for all of us!" Elesis yelled. I turned back towards Ronan, and saw Elesis standing beside him, hand in hand with the indigo-clad Spell Knight. I giggled at this, and quieted when Elesis cast me an evil glare. The Knight and the Spell Knight put their hands over my own. I felt new strength surging from them, and weaved it with my own. Kaze'aze started to struggle.

"You can't win! You're all alone! You'll never be able to defeat me!"

"You're wrong, Kaze'aze. I have my friends here beside me. And we will win! For all of those who can't fight for themselves, for all those that had their lives end too soon because of you, and especially, for every person close to me who you've killed! I will fight!" I felt stronger with every word I said. It was hard to believe I'd ever thought I was going to lose.

_Nothing to stand  
Against our might_

"You don't know what you're up against!" Kaze'aze screamed, throwing more power into her attack. I flinched back, it was strong.

Arms caught me as I was pushed back. "Need some extra help?" Ryan's voice rose over the beating of my heart in my ears. I simply nodded, too exhausted to say anything more. Ryan drooped his arms around my shoulders, and put his hands on top of all of ours.

"We're all together, nothing can stop us." Lire said softly.

"You're right! We're invincible!" Elesis laughed.

"If we were invincible, we wouldn't be here right now." Ronan chided.

"Well, maybe we aren't invincible, but we sure are strong enough to defeat Kaze'aze!" Ryan's smile leaked into his words.

We all nodded, and put our strength into my staff, and from there, to my giant ball of light. Kaze'aze growled, and a giant dog appeared behind her.

"This is my true form! Watch, and be obliterated!" Kaze'aze cackled, her voice getting louder and louder. My ears began ringing.

"We're not afraid of you, you evil witch!" I screamed back at her.

_Give me the strength  
To carry on (carry on)_

"You're not? Too bad." Kaze'aze shot a huge fiery ball towards us. The fiery ball, plus the dark magic, was getting to be too much to hold out, and I felt my thoughts slip away again.

I was back at Kamiki's Castle, with Lire, Ryan, Elesis, and Ronan by my side. We had just defeated the traitor, Elena. I collapsed to my knees, sad to see such a great magician go. Ronan had put a hand on my shoulder, telling me there was nothing we could have done differently. Elesis and Ryan were arguing which way to go next, when suddenly Elena stood up. I gasped, and Ronan put himself in front of me. Elesis and Ryan were the two closest to her, yet both were so caught up in their argument that neither noticed her.

"Hehehe… You think I'd die that easily?" Elena said in an eerie voice. Elesis and Ryan both noticed her at this point.

"I thought you would be easy to defeat… I guess I'll have to show you my true form after all…" Elena started laughing, but the laughing soon turned to coughing. She was coughing up blood. I had to turn away, I couldn't bear to watch her go through this pain. I heard a loud crack, then a "Look out!" shouted by someone.

I was shoved backwards by Ronan. I turned to look just in time to see Elena- no, it was no longer Elena. She had turned into Kamiki. I turned just in time to see Kamiki swing a chakrani at Elesis. She stood there, dumbstruck, unable to move. She was almost hit with a fatal blow to the head, when Ryan pushed her out of the way just in time, taking the hit for her. He flew backwards, smashing into a tree, hard.

Lire screamed, and tried to run over to him. Ronan caught her arm, and pulled her back. "Lire, if you go over there, you'll be killed too!"

"No! He's not dead! He's not dead!" Lire was in hysterics. Ronan pushed her at me and told me not to let go of her until she calmed down. Holding her still was hard, but what was harder was watching Ronan and Elesis fight Kamiki on their own.

They were holding their own, but they were purely on the defensive.

"We have to retreat!" Elesis called out.

Lire seemed to sober at this, and looked up, with a fire in her eyes. "Leave this to me. You all need to go ahead and find Kaze'aze. I'll take care of the traitor."

I'd never heard Lire talk with such malice and hatred in her voice. I was stunned. I let go of her, afraid that if I didn't, she would make me. She stood up, grabbed her bow and her quiver, and marched over to Ronan and Elesis. They looked at her like she was crazy, but neither dared to argue against her. They were both too worn out and too shocked to think of a proper response.

Elesis motioned for me to follow them, and we left Lire behind with Kamiki.

"This is a battle she has to fight. Arguing with her will be futile." Ronan tried to reason to himself. Elesis just nodded, sadly.

"She won't lose, she _can't_ lose! Not when she's like that! She's like a whole new Lire, she'll catch up to us soon, don't you worry!" I spoke out, naively.

Elesis smiled, nodded, and we ran off towards Kaze'aze's castle again.

We had been so hopeful, but our hopes had been crushed when we met up with Kamiki again in front of the Temple of Fire.

_With all our love  
We can't go wrong_

I snapped out of the awful memory. Kaze'aze was winning, and she knew it. The four people beside me looked strained. I was sweating heavily. Kaze'aze sent another fireball at me, but this time I countered it better. I shot a lightning bolt at it, and it divided, going around us. The heat was horrible, but it was better than going right through it.

We stood, pushing back and forth at each other, neither getting very far in any direction.

Kaze'aze smiled, and threw a small ball of black energy at me. I didn't notice it until it was too late, and it hit me.

I was back with Elesis, standing in front of Kaze'aze's castle. We fought through countless monsters, slowly climbing to the top of the castle. When we were almost there, a boy, clad in blue, with silver hair, and black eyes, stopped us. He told us he was Kaze'aze, and Elesis laughed.

"You? I mere little boy? Kaze'aze? No way!" She burst into hysterics.

The boy's expression didn't change. I blinked, and he was gone. "Uh, Elesis…"

Elesis tried to calm herself, only lightly successfully. "Oh… Yeah?"

"That boy… He's gone."

Elesis turned to look where he was before. "Whoa, and he was just there! Can he teleport? Is he a mage too? Oh wait, dumb question." Elesis' ramblings were only to make up for the fact that she had let her guard down. I normally would have teased her, but right then, I didn't have the will to.

A kunai was flung from somewhere above us. Elesis nearly dodged it. The boy dropped down silently, and as quick as he disappeared, he started fighting Elesis. They sparred together while I tried to shoot firebolts and lighting bolts at him. He dodged them easily, and tried to trip Elesis into them. After I'd hit her for the third time, she yelled at me to stop with the magical attacks, and save my mana for healing.

I watched from a safe distance as the two fought. The battle seemed fairly even, the boy making up for a lack of strength in his amazing speed.

_Only together  
We face the fight (face the fight)_

The battle lasted for some time. Elesis slashing at him, and chasing after him while the boy flipped around acrobatically, throwing kunai at the Knight. He got a good gash in her leg, and she stumbled to the floor. She barely dodged the boy as he flew at her from a ledge on the wall.

"Elesis! Let me heal you!" I ran over to her, preparing my mana for a cure.

"No, Arme, stop!" Elesis yelled at me. I didn't listen. I kept running towards her.

I had gotten to where she was and was just about to cure her when I heard her scream "Look out!"

I looked up, seeing the boy diving down at us. I uselessly threw my arms up above my head to deflect the attack, when Elesis pushed me out of the way. She almost successfully dodged the attack herself, but got a deep cut in her side.

She collapsed to the floor. I screamed, and in my rage, casted Meteor. Big meteors began to fall from the ceiling. The boy tried to dodge them, but the sheer number of them was just too much. He got hit a few times, collapsing against the wall. I ignored him and turned back to Elesis.

"Elesis, hang in there! Cure!" I shouted, tears leaking from my eyes.

"There's… No point… Arme…" Elesis coughed. "I've… Lost too much… Blood…" she breathed heavily, holding her side. There was so much blood, everywhere. It made me feel faint, but I managed to fight it, sending every bit of mana I could into my cure.

"Arme… Stop. You need to save your mana… For Kaze'aze…" Elesis was becoming quieter, her breathing shallower.

"No… Elesis… No! I can't… I can't fight her alone!" I sobbed, hugging Elesis.

"You can… I know you can… Make us all… Proud…" Elesis went limp in my arms. I started hiccupping, unable to comprehend what just happened. Elesis, the undefeatable, invincible Elesis, just died in my arms. I cried.

"Please…" I heard a weak voice from across the room. I looked up, and saw the boy. He was bleeding heavily; he wasn't long for this world. "Please…" he said again.

I made my way wearily over to him, I wasn't sure if it was a trap or not. When I got to him, I knelt down in front of him. His eyes were no longer blank. They were now a deep, cerulean blue. The most beautiful color of blue I had ever seen.

"I can't heal you. I'm sorry." I told him, feeling bad that there was nothing I could do for this boy, either.

"It doesn't matter. Go. Go through that door." He pointed at a door, hidden within the rocks of the wall. "Kaze'aze… Kaze'aze is through that door. Defeat her."

I nodded, I didn't ask any questions. I went through the door, and came face to face with my darkest fear.

_Nothing to stand  
Against our might_

I snapped out of the memory. I wouldn't let her continue to sap my strength by making me relive the most horrible moments of my life. I felt a new strength awaken inside me, and I reached to it. I felt it pulse inside me. It wanted free, it wanted to be put to use. I granted its wish.

My ball of light became blindingly bright, yet I could still stare at it without problem. I felt my four friends beside me, lending me all of their strength. Ryan, his bravery. Lire, her will. Ronan, his courage. Elesis, her heart.

I felt all their strength, all our strength, and I swung my staff one last time, as hard as I could, towards Kaze'aze.

"No, no! This wasn't supposed to happen! I was supposed to rule the world! No!" Kaze'aze screamed as the light engulfed her.

_With all our strength  
The battle's won_

The light died down, and Kaze'aze was no longer standing across from me. I collapsed to my knees.

_With all our love  
We can't go wrong_

I looked around, but I didn't see Elesis, Ronan, Lire, or Ryan anymore either. My hands started shaking on my staff. _Maybe they'll come back still. Maybe they're just waiting for me outside the castle._

_We have the strength  
To carry on_

But I knew it wasn't true. They were gone, truly gone, and I was alone, utterly alone. I collapsed completely to the ground, laid on my side, and cried.

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A/N: This is just some random story I thought up while listening to the same song over and over again. The first Grand Chase fic I've written, and the first songfic I've ever written. Please read, review, and enjoy! Criticism welcome. I have a hard time ever thinking up an idea to type into a story, so if anyone has any ideas, I'd be glad to hear them and write them into a story. I love writing stories, but I never have any ideas. Please help! :D

-Barrows


	2. The Surviver

Ok, I think an explanation is in order here. Yes, this story was ORIGINALLY a one-shot song-fic about Arme fighting Kaze'aze. That can still stand on it's own. This is just something I wanted to give a try. I've always toyed with the idea of "What if I continued Carry On? What would happen?" I never really thought it totally through, but I knew that Arme would meet up with Lass, and they would try to resurrect all of Arme's deceased companions. So here is the next part. It's more a "What if?" than anything, and I may not continue it farther than this. Nothing really happened, just a lot of angst and pointless conversation. I don't really know where this is going. But hey, if people like it, I have no problem continuing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Grand Chase, or the characters present.

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It was a lot time that I spent on that cold ground. So long, I thought maybe I had become apart of the ground. It was a happy thought for a small moment.

It took me even longer to realize I was not as alone as I thought on that ground. Someone had come up, and laid their back against mine. When I finally noticed, I took great comfort in this person. I did not know who it was. I did not have the energy to move, to look, or even to ask. I laid there. I could not cry anymore. I felt drained, empty, yet this person being there beside me seemed to help me refill my strength, however slight.

It took me longer still to sense something was wrong. Not with me, with the person next to me. Their breathing was off. I could feel their heartbeat through our backs, and it was sporadic. This person was dying. I could smell the blood now, as well. This brought me back to reality.

Yet, this person seemed so calm, despite dying. Perhaps this person had accepted their fate, and was resigned to it. Perhaps this person just wanted to help me get through my pain, with the last of their life. But I knew there was something I could do for this person. I had failed so many previously, I could help this person.

I knew it was not someone I knew. This person's back was too tall to be female, so that meant it could not be Elesis or Lire. It did not have Ryan's muscular girth; this person's back was thin. Too thin and long to be Ronan's, either. This person was scrawny. Wiry. I rolled over to see the face that went with this back.

I was shocked to see it was the boy from earlier. The one who killed Elesis. It took a moment to quiet my rage, and remind myself that it was not this boy who did, but the woman controlling him. I also then noticed it was most likely inappropriate to call him a boy. I was amazed he had managed to crawl so far in his state. How could he still even be alive? He must have a strong will, I decided. He was bruised and battered, but wasn't really bleeding. He was covered in blood, but none of it was fresh, and it did not seem to be coming from him. I felt sick, suddenly, knowing it was probably the blood of Elesis and I that he was covered in.

He looked up, then, noticing my shifting. His eyes met mine, and I saw the will that had kept him alive so long.

"Are you alright?" Stupid question. I regretted it as soon as I spoke.

He merely coughed, coughing up blood, and lazily shook his head. His head lulled back to the ground, and his eyes fluttered closed. I rested my hand on his shoulder, and I mustered up what energy I could to cast a heal. I had no idea how well it would work, his injuries were clearly internal, and my heals did not always completely heal that which cannot be seen. But I tried. It was all I could do.

The boy started coughing profusely. At first I thought he was dying, that my heal was not working. Then I realized, he was clearing out his lungs so he could properly breathe again. I rested two fingers along his neck, and felt his heart rate steadying. It was working. I let out the breath I did not realize I was holding.

I removed my hands from him, and sat up properly, facing him. I watched him as he slowly healed with the help of my magic. After a while, he tried sitting up. I reached forward to help him, but he brushed my hands off. I realized he wanted to do it alone, and sat back as he struggled. When he finally was upright, and facing me, he met my eyes again.

"Thank you. I owe you my life twice over now." His voice was soft, slightly raspy from all the coughing.

I was taken aback by his words. I did not know what to say in return. I mumbled a "You're welcome" and turned my gaze to the suddenly very interesting ground.

After a moment of awkward silence, I looked up to realize he was waiting on me to say something more. I took a deep breath and tried to speak. "You don't owe me anything. After everything that has transpired recently, it was the least I could do. I don't want to see anyone else die." A tear escaped my eye, just when I thought I was done crying.

"I am… Truly sorry about your friend. I wish I could change what happened. I wish I was not so weak as to let her control my body so… I have killed so many. I do not deserve to live. Yet you healed me nonetheless. I owe you a great debt. Let me repay you, and repay all the sins I have committed. I know I cannot undo the wrongs I have committed. Let me help make them right, at least. Let me repay my debts." His eyes held such an earnest look, yet were full of such sadness. What else could I do?

"But… Kaze'aze has been finished. There is nothing more to do. We are done… I'm really not the one to speak to about what is to be done next…" I wanted to help him out somehow though, but I didn't know what else I could do for him.

"Then let me come with you, to wherever it is you need to go to next. Whatever it is you need to do next. I owe you my life twice over, and where I come from, a debt like that cannot be walked away from. I shall follow you until I repay it." Again with the seriousness. I could tell there was no dissuading him from this, though, so I reluctantly agreed. I could instantly tell that lifted a weight off his shoulders. He nodded to me, shakily stood up, then offered me his hand. I grabbed my wand, and let him pull me up. I was just as wobbly as he was, yet somehow neither of us fell.

"Well, off to Bermesiah to tell the Queen of Kaze'aze's defeat." I said. It didn't sound half as cheerful as I had hoped it would.

"You won't regret taking me with you." And that was the last thing he said for a while. We left Kaze'aze's Castle in silence. We trekked through Ellia in silence. When night started to fall, we decided to make camp.

"I'll set up if you find us some food." I stated, and started pulling the camp supplies out of what was once Elesis' bag. I began work pitching the tent while he disappeared to find food. He came back surprisingly quickly with a couple of small animals. I was still struggling with the tent while he made a small fire to cook the food on. I was still working on the tent when he was done cooking.

He looked at the tent, and got up to help. "No, no, I've got this! I don't need any help! Elesis used to do this all on her own every time! I can handle it!" I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, and I noticed I was crying. It quickly escalated, and he motioned to the food. I nodded, and sat down by the fire and started eating.

Once I calmed down a bit, he spoke again. "Lass." Was all he said.

"Pardon?" I asked. I didn't quite understand what he meant.

"My name. I never mentioned it before. It's Lass."

"Oh…" I trailed off. I took a bite of my food. He was still looking at me. I then realized he was expecting me to state my name. "Oh! Right! I never gave you my name either… Sorry. I'm Arme."

"Well met, Arme." The way he ended the sentence, it seemed like he had more he wanted to say.

I looked at him and asked, "Yes?"

"Listen… I watched you. Back there. When you were fighting Kaze'aze. You're a very powerful Magician."

"Umm… Thank you." I blushed.

"It's not just a compliment. I've never seen someone call forth the spirits of the deceased before." This comment shocked me. I thought I was simply hallucinating that part.

"You saw them?" He nodded. I was almost at a loss for words. Almost. "You speak like you've seen similar magic, though."

He looked off into the distance. "I have." Was all he said.

I started thinking. If he had seen similar magic, and if I was able to call forth their spirits, did that mean it was possible to bring them back? My hopes shot up. I spoke out without thinking. "Does that mean I could bring them back?"

He was taken aback. When he recollected his thoughts, he shook his head. "I don't know. I've never seen someone brought back from the dead. I've seen the dead raised, but they do not have their souls. But you can bring their souls to you. That could mean if you found a way to bring back their bodies, you could put their souls back in. But I don't really know. My knowledge of this is spotty; I learned of this during when I was under possession of Kaze'aze."

"Do you think you could tell me what you do know?" I asked. I was too hopeful. I wanted to believe this was possible. I was willing to die trying if it wasn't.

He nodded, then started his story.

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A/N: Alright, so I'm not particularly proud of this, but I was bored and wanted to toy with the idea of continuing Carry On. I wrote this at 1 AM. I couldn't sleep, I had nothing better to do. This is the end result. I hope you enjoy this, even though I feel it may be boring. I'm not sure if this is worth continuing, especially since I don't really have any idea where this is going. I have a general idea, and an end result, but I don't know how to get there yet. So please, feel free to tell me this is shit and to let this fic die, lol. If you've read all this far, some how, you deserve a cookie. Scratch that, a dozen cookies. I'm proud of you if you've read this far. This is a dark fic, and it did not let up much in this chapter. Anyways, if you did manage to make it through this chapter, by some miracle, I hope you at least enjoyed it. And I hope you'll leave a comment. Because I love hearing from people. It's what keeps us writers writing, people like you, even if it's just to say "Cool story, bro".

-Barrows


	3. The Past

I've tried my hand at naming the chapters. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Grand Chase or the characters, but I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

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First, he talked about his past, the life he had before Kaze'aze stole it from him. It was there that he met a Necromancer, though at the time, he was unaware just what that meant. He never once saw the man use his necromancy powers, though. He just knew the man was often called "Necromancer" by those around him. He told me about the circus he was held captive in, and how a man had once come to save him, but upon seeing the boy's sorry state, simply called him weak and left. He told me he never forgot that man's face, and that with his knowledge now, knew he was a demon. I found it odd that it was a demon who had come to rescue him. Usually, stories had an angel come to save you. But I guess since the demon hadn't saved him in the end, it still made sense.

He told me about how he used his own powers to escape, how he destroyed the circus that once held him captive. His blue eyes burned with unspoken regrets when he talked about it. He skipped the details, but went on to say that his powers had caught the eyes of Kaze'aze, and in his weakened mental state, could not fight her control of him. And thus, he became her pawn.

While she controlled him, he met the Necromancer of his past, and learned of his powers. Kaze'aze stole something from the Necromancer, what it was however, he was unaware. The Necromancer wanted it back, and in return helped Kaze'aze by summoning minions for her, and letting her borrow his powers for a while. Whatever it was she had taken from him, it meant a lot to him. She could not control him, however, as his mind was too strong. She resorted to using Lass' body to torment this Necromancer over and over, with the promise of having "it" back this time, if he did this one last thing for her.

He ended his story with this, and stopped staring out into the distance to look at me for his next words. "I still remember where he makes his residence. Perhaps we should make a visit to see him. I am sure the news of Kaze'aze's demise would be of value to him."

I thought for a moment about this. "Did she ever give back that thing she took from him?" I asked.

After a moment's thought, Lass responded. "No, not that I was ever aware of. She continued to rely on his help up until just before you and the red haired knight entered her castle."

I nodded, now wishing that he knew what this thing was, so that we could return it to him and perhaps secure his help. "Is he a very good necromancer? I mean, usually those who dabble in such dark magic go crazy, can we trust him?" I was already referring to us as a team, and this realization shocked me.

Lass simply nodded. "A lot of Kaze'aze's army came from him, if that gives you a rough idea of his powers." My eyes widened. That took a lot of power, bringing back so many dead soldiers. But it also answered so much. If Kaze'aze had a powerful necromancer working for her, of course she could have such a powerful army at all times, despite our efforts to kill them off. They'd just come back. If this necromancer was summoning for Kaze'aze… No, he was just as used in this scenario as Lass was. It was not at all his fault that any of them died. It took me a while to quiet my rage at this knowledge, nonetheless.

When Lass finally finished pitching the tent; he struggled with it almost as much as I had; we went and both sat in it, atop the raged sleeping sacks I had laid out for us. I let him use Ronan's old one, as Ronan's was the biggest. It still was not long enough for the tall lad, though, and his feet stuck out the end when he covered himself with it.

I couldn't sleep just yet, so I wrapped Elesis' old one around my shoulders and sat there. It still smelled of her, and it made me wish I had been nicer to the hot-headed knight while she was still alive. I found I missed her loud, argumentive voice, and tears quickly followed the memories that came on.

Lass must've realized I was crying, for he decided to talk more about this necromancer we were going to go see. He told me where exactly he lived, and the things we could learn from him. And quickly, the same way I found myself drawn into the fight with Kaze'aze at the start of all this, I found myself wanting to learn about his magic, to further my own knowledge and skills. I let Lass talk about this until I found myself asleep, dreaming of the days where my friends were still alive. When I woke, I was properly covered in a blanket, despite knowing I had not fallen asleep as such. I turned to look at Lass, who was fast asleep using Ryan's old blanket to cover his feet. I guess he had tucked me in, and I found I was grateful.

I sat up and began searching for food I could use to make a proper breakfast, and when I came back with some eggs and berried, Lass had already started a fire. After quickly cooking the eggs and splitting the berries, we headed off in the direction Lass stated that this necromancer resided in.

We didn't talk much along the way, and the few monsters we encountered were dealt with quickly enough. Lass was fast, and his skills were a lot more practical to make use of in these quick encounters than my own skills were. I let him take out the monsters, and it seemed to give him a satisfaction of some sort to be useful, so I did not rob him of this. He looked nice with a smile on his face.

It took about half the day to walk to this Necromancer's residence. According to Lass, it wouldn't take so long if we ran, but I didn't have his stamina, so we walked the whole way. He offered to carry me once, but it reminded me of Ryan and Ronan, and how they used to tease me about being slow as well, and Ryan would often carry me against my will if we needed to get somewhere in a hurry. The memory brought on tears, and instead of changing the subject like I hoped he would, Lass asked about it. We sat against a tree for a while, while I told him the memory. I felt better after sharing it, and we continued on.

"Don't be afraid to talk about it next time. Letting it out is better than keeping it in." His words helped lift my mood, and I promised I would.

I knew we were getting close when we hit a very dark spot of the forest we were walking through. The trees seemed… Lifeless. I'm not sure how I knew, perhaps I was channeling Ryan at that moment. But the forest got darker as we walked, and I summoned a fireball at the end of my staff to light the way. Lass didn't seem to need the light, however, and led the way easily. I needed it to keep track of him, so he didn't ask me to put it out, just warned me to be careful as the trees could catch easily. I giggled, letting him know that my magic didn't affect things I didn't want it to, so even if I flung the fireball at a tree, it would simply dissipate and the tree would be unharmed. He nodded, finding the information useful.

We finally stumbled upon a small, run down hut. It was in shambles, and tree had clearly fallen into it and never been removed, becoming more a part of the hut than something that destroyed it. It was interesting, to say the least, but it set me on edge. Lass calmly walked up to the door and knocked twice; I kept my distance, letting the small lanterns near the door light Lass' figure.

A shadow emerged from the house, standing in the doorway. It was at least a head shorter than the silver-haired thief standing before him, yet did not seem intimidated by him. I was close enough to hear the quiet words the exchanged, yet I did not catch the interest of the shadow at that moment.

"What do you want now, peon?" A gruff voice spoke out, clearly unused for some time.

Lass didn't let the voice bother him. "I'm not here of her will."

It was some moments before the shadow responded again. He stared at Lass for quite some time, as if noticing something different about him. When his gaze hit his eyes, he finally realized. "Your eyes. You are not under possession anymore."

Lass simply nodded.

"Then allow me to properly introduce myself, however late this introduction is. My name is Kieran. How may I be of service to you?"

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A/N: Ok, so it's been a while, but I've finally updated! It took so long because I was trying to plan out where this story was going before I continued to write.

So again, nothing happened this chapter, but next chapter will have some action, I promise! A little of Lass' past in the beginning. It might not make much sense if you aren't aware of his actual past, but I tried my best to make it understandable. (I changed it to include Kieran so sue me D:)

Kieran is a character I own. I made him up. I got stumped for what I could do to have Arme bring her friends back, so I decided to lean on an old character. He's here to stay, so if you have a problem with OCs, I suggest you stop reading this. He doesn't have a MAIN roll, but he will be in the story, and he is going to be used to help Arme.

I still haven't gotten the plot completely figured out. There are still quite a few holes in it, and it's hard to fill them, because I'm running out of ideas. So it might be a while before this is updated again. But I have the ending planned! Like, completely and totally planned, and yeah. It's a good feeling to have things planned. So this is not just a "What if...?" thing anymore, this is an ACTUAL, PLANNED OUT story. Hold on to your kerchiefs, kids, it's going to get dark.

Ok, so my chapters for Carry On are getting shorter and shorter, while my chapters for Love Notes are getting longer and longer... (But don't worry this story will be super long, I promise)

As always, read, review, and enjoy! Let me know what you think of this! I wrote it late at night, as I do with all my writing, so forgive any errors. I rarely read my stuff over. Don't hold your breaths for the next chapter, I need to figure out a couple more things first.

If anyone is interested in helping me with figuring said things out, though, PM me and let me know! I'm happy to accept any and all help! And trust me, I need it.

-Barrows

(I also apologize if the writing style seems to shift greatly from chapter to chapter. I write them so far apart from each other, and my writing style changes on a daily basis, so it's harder than you think to make them all sound the same.)


	4. The Necromancer

Disclaimer: I do not own Grand Chase. I do, however, own Kieran (regretfully), but if you'd like him, he's all yours. :D

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The Necromancer then stepped into the light of the torch outside. I now saw why he simply looked like a shadow; he wore a black cloak with a hood, and it covered him almost completely. His face was shadowed, save for his mouth, and the cloak ended just above his boots, lengthening then at the sides and dragging behind him as he moved. He carried a staff taller than he was. He bowed slightly to Lass, who was head and shoulders taller than the small shadowed man. Lass returned this gesture, and standing in front of this man, he looked like an angel, with his silvery hair falling in his eyes slightly and his light clothing. I was mesmerized for only a minute by the night and day difference between these two, and couldn't help but feel like it symbolized something more, though I shook the feeling off roughly.

While I was distracted, they had some sort of exchange that I missed. When I shook myself, however, the Necromancer seemed to notice me.

"And who might your little friend be, over there?" he gestured his staff towards me, still looking at Lass. Though I couldn't see his eyes, so I wasn't sure if he was really still looking at Lass.

I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like Lass' next move was to place himself in between myself and Kieran. It was slow and fluid, and I'm sure it was meant to look like he wasn't doing anything of the sort. I wasn't even sure if I was just over thinking it.

"Her name is Arme. She's the reason I came to seek you today." Lass' cool voice responded.

"I sense she is powerful." I saw a flash of a smile before he disappeared. His disappearance unsettled Lass as much as it did me. Lass shifted stances and began looking around. I heard Kieran's voice behind me, and I started.

"Care to explain to me why you're here? I'd much rather hear it from you than from him. You're cuter." When I spun around to see him, still the only thing I could see of his face was his annoying smile. I frowned, and took a deep breath to settle myself.

"I lost my friends in the battle with Kaze'aze. Lass said you might know how to bring them back." I kept the details small to keep myself from crying at the memory.

"Ah, how unfortunate. My condolences. But information comes at a price. Are you willing to pay it?" After all the missions the Chase had done for the people of Bermesiah, and even the people of Ellia, we had money to spare. We had never had much to spend it on while on our journey, except for food when we were in a village, or new armor or weapons. Still, there was much left.

"I have plenty of money. How much are you asking for?" I felt Lass' presence behind me as I spoke. Kieran frowned at me, and shook his head.

"I am not asking for money. I have no need for it. No… I'd like… Something else." The smile returned, and the way he spoke sent a chill down my spine. Lass moved up beside me, and I saw his left hand poised over where he hid his dagger.

I was almost afraid to ask. "What are you asking for, then?"

Kieran laughed. "Not what you are thinking of, little one! No no, I'd like a taste of your power. You are the one who defeated Kaze'aze, no? Even after years, I could not compare to this feat. I would like to see this power in action. Battle with me!" The free hand not holding his staff then swished open his cloak dramatically, and he leaped backwards, crouching, a smile on his face. Lass stepped in and readied his weapon.

Kieran waved his staff in a small circle, and suddenly Lass was grabbed by a skeleton. "I demand a fight with her, stay out of this!" He growled from his place, staying motionless.

I readied my own wand and looked at Lass. "I can handle myself, don't worry." He sighed, but he relaxed, and the skeleton let him go. He sheathed his daggers and stepped back.

"Excellent! Then let us begin!" Kieran shouted, and the purple orb on his staff began to glow. I didn't know the type of magic Kieran specialized in, nor did I know the way he fought. I started by casting Saver over myself.

The small clearing was suddenly filled with skeletons. They were ugly, and clumsy, and nothing I hadn't fought before. Skeletons weren't the only things there, there were a few Dark Anmons as well. I quickly counted a dozen, and I realized I was dealing with a pro.

I started dashing around, casting firebolts and lightning bolts. I quickly realized how used to fighting with others I was, and tried to keep myself from becoming overwhelmed. Yet every time I took one monster down, a new one would replace it. I teleported out of the range of a swing of a Dark Anmon Soldier, safely to the sidelines. I charged my mana, and casted Meteor before they could reach me. It killed most of them, and as I readied another firebolt to take down the last one, I realized that the others were getting back up.

I mentally swore as I realized what was going on. Kieran could continue to raise the ones I killed over and over. At this rate, this was a test of stamina. In an instant I knew what I had to do. I teleported behind Kieran, and I knew I had caught him off guard. I shot Stone Curse at him, and watched as he helplessly tried to dodge it. He didn't have enough time, and it hit. He quickly began turning to stone, and I readied to hit him with my staff. He was quick, though, and before the hit connected, he pulled out, with the one hand that had yet to turn to stone, a small sword from his belt that I did not know was there. He held it steady against my staff, matching my strength with one hand. This didn't surprise me, I knew I wasn't that strong. We struggled like this for a few seconds before he threw me off. I leaped backwards and was about to throw an Energy Ball at him when he broke from the stone and leaped out of the way. The Energy Ball flew off into the darkness of the surrounding forest.

I heard him shout "Curse!" and I quickly sidestepped to avoid whatever he was throwing at me. I watched a ball of dark energy wiz past my ear, blowing my hair out of my face, narrowly missing me. We then started circling, throwing different spells at each other, dodging and blocking. His movements started becoming slower, his skills gaining more time in between each use. I knew I was close to finishing this, so I backed off a bit and began charging my mana. He threw another black energy ball at me, one that I now knew that if it hit me, I became utterly confused and disoriented. A simple heal had recovered myself from the status, though, and I knew his skills lied in summoning things, not cursing magic. I had never given him enough time to summon anything, so the battle had continued in my favor.

When the black ball neared me, I purposely shifted into it's way, and let it hit the orange orb of my wand, blocking it. However, I made it out to look as though I had been hit, and as I predicted, he began attempting to summon in the timeframe. I let him summon, charging my own mana as I pretend to try and heal myself. He managed to get some more Dark Anmon Scouts up before I was done, and I teleported in front of him and whispered "Electric Spark", jumped, and swung my wand down. He braced himself for being hit with my wand, holding his staff up in a defensive position. I simply smiled, as I knew this was useless. Electricity began to rain down, hitting everything around me, destroying the monsters he had just summoned, and bringing him to his knees.

The electricity faded, and Kieran clung desperately to his staff to keep himself upright, breathing heavily. I dropped to the ground and pointed my wand at his head, the yellow edging resting against his forehead. "Firebo-" Something grabbed my wand and broke my concentration.

I looked up to see Lass, a frown on his face. "That's enough. You've won, you don't need to take it that far." His cool voice chided.

At his words of disappointment, I realized what I was about to do. My eyes widened, and I took a sharp intake of air. I dropped my staff and covered my mouth with my hands, and began crying. "Lass… I was… I was… I just about…" I hiccupped, and couldn't finish my sentence. Lass simply wrapped his arms around me and held me as I cried.

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_I know what it's like. I know what it's like to lose control, to watch yourself do something you never would have done on your own. I know how scary it is to watch, helpless, as your body is used for evil. But is your body really being used for evil? The evil witch is dead, this could not be her doing. Is this simply who you really are? Your reaction says otherwise, but I haven't known you long. But you saved my life twice. I'll stand by you, whatever it is you do. I'll trust you, as much as I don't want to. And I'll help you, until I've repaid the dept I owe to you._

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A/N: I seem to do a lot of writing during when GC goes into maintenance. I think that's when the majority of my stuff is written, actually. This was written on the 13th, mind you. I know it's been a while since then.

That last paragraph is actually Lass' thoughts on Arme. I wanted to write it to clarify his actions a bit, and the way he was acting towards her, because I know he's seeming a little too friendly for barely knowing her at the beginning (and at the end there, too), and now you know why. As of right now, he actually doesn't have feelings for her. He respects her, and intends to repay his dept to her, but he's actually a bit afraid of her. Teehee, I've read so much Lass/Arme fanfiction, this seems so opposite of what they're normally portrayed as.

I wrote that whole fight scene while listening to Ai no Senshi from Sailor Moon. It's epic fight music, in my opinion, and helped inspire me. I know the fight scene is still majorly lacking, though, as I suck at them. BUT LOOK, THERE WAS SOME ACTUAL ACTION IN THIS CHAPTER! No real plot advancement, but… ACTION! AND THAT'S TOTALLY ALL THAT MATTERS, RIGHT? :D

Oh, and if you were wondering, yes. Arme was about to kill Kieran. Well, I'm assuming lighting a man's head on fire would kill them, so… Yeah. She was about to kill him. BUT WHY SHE WAS IS A SECRET~

That chapter was shorter than originally intended, but the fight scene dragged on so I didn't feel like adding the next part to this chapter. I feel like this is enough. Also, I know that fight scene was lame beyond anything ever written, but I suck at fight scenes. I'm especially bad at ones based around magic. So just believe me when I say that I tried my best and spent hours writing and rewriting it.

Also, I got a Wii U yesterday and am in love with it. If anyone else has one, I'm always interested in getting some friends!

Another long A/N...

-Barrows


	5. The Counsel

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Grand Chase, though Kieran is mine, and he sucks unless Fata Lunevis writes him. Fata, teach me how to write Kieran please.

(Re-upload because I made a bunch of edits, but apparently didn't hit "save" in Microsoft Word before importing into . So I just took down the old chapter, actually hit save, and then re-entered my intro/outro. Apologies for spamming your inboxes.)

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It took a while for Kieran to wake up. I didn't mind waiting; it gave me time to sort through my thoughts properly. And after what had just happened, it was something I really needed.

I had just about killed him. If not for Lass, I would have. Why? I couldn't even think of a reason why I'd do such a thing. I hadn't even realized what I was doing. Why? That question taunted me, knowing I might never find its answer.

Lass had explained that it seemed sort of like a possession spell, but said it couldn't be because my eyes had remained normal the entire time. I didn't know what that actually meant for me. Had I been possessed? I don't believe so. But then again, what did I know? Could Elena be counted as being possessed? Or was that just a corruption of power? Was that what I was experiencing now?

I continued to think about what this all meant while Lass and I sat beside Kieran, waiting for him to wake up. Lass was silent, letting me think about all of this, yet sat close enough that he could stop me if I did something like it again. He watched me out of the corner of his eye; I could see his blue eyes through his silver hair when I looked over at him. I knew he was wary of me. I was wary of myself, too.

It was only when Kieran finally woke up that I was snapped from these thoughts. He congratulated me on winning, impressed with the extent of my abilities.

"As promised, I'll tell you what I know. But first, I need to know what you're looking to know. Tell me, what do you know about death and resurrection?" Kieran led us into his small hut as he talked, waving at a table and chairs for us to sit at. The three of us sat, and asked someone behind him to prepare us some tea. I looked around, but could hardly see anything past the table. There was a candle on the table, but no other lights seemed to be lit around the eerily dark home.

What did I know about death and resurrection? Not much. "Well, I know souls go to some sort of afterlife place…" I trailed off, unsure of much more than that.

"While she was fighting Kaze'aze, she summoned the souls of her friends to help her fight. She was unaware of doing such a thing, but I saw it with my own eyes." Lass offered quietly.

"Hmm, how intriguing," Kieran mused. He drummed his gloved fingers on the table, thinking about what next to say. "So you'd like to know how to bring them back to life?"

I nodded, brushing my purple hair out of my eyes. I didn't understand how Kieran could tolerate always having that hood block his vision.

"Well, I can tell you it is possible. I've heard of it happening before, though I've never seen it for myself. A friend of mine once attempted such a stunt, but was unsuccessful. However, I do not believe one should judge an experiment based on one attempt." He paused for a moment, and stroked the wood of his staff absentmindedly. Lass glared at him, urging him to continue, clearly impatient. Kieran simply ignored it. A skeleton arrived with our tea, setting each cup in front of us. This was when I noticed it was not a human skeleton, but some sort of monster with four arms. I let a small screech escape my lips in shock, but quickly settled my quickening heart. It didn't stay longer than necessary, thankfully.

Kieran took a sip of his tea, and then continued. "I can also tell you that I would not be capable of this feat. Not alone, anyways. I may be able to raise their bodies, given the knowledge of where those lie, but I could not bring their souls back to those bodies. For that, you would need the expertise of someone with more knowledge of such things. I, myself, am unaware of what skills one would need to bring a soul back across the barrier between here and the afterlife. Though you have seemed to do it, but I feel as though their souls only stuck around in this world to help you, and your plight simply guided them to you. I could be wrong. They could have been drawn in by your immense powers as well. As I've said, I'm not aware of how that part works. My expertise lies in the dead that remain here in Aernas.

"I can also tell you that you would not be able to perform such a feat with just the knowledge of how to alone. No, you'd need permission to bring the souls back across. Permission from the one who guards souls, though I do not know who that is. Finally, you'd also need the powers of a god to pull this off successfully."

"The powers of a god?" I was in awe. How did one achieve such power? Would I be able to do this? I took a careful sip of tea to hide my thoughts.

"I apologize, but I cannot tell you more than that. Beyond this world, my knowledge is sketchy, and second-hand. The best I can do is lead you to someone who may be able to fill in the blanks." Kieran frowned, seemingly unwilling to continue.

"And who might this be?" Lass inquired, leaning back in his chair, his tea still untouched. Kieran took a moment to respond.

"I am unsure if he would be willing to help, and there is not much I could do to convince him to do so. But if you still wish to meet with him, I would be honored to accompany you to his location." Kieran spun his teacup back and forth, staring down into it.

"Well, it's worth a try, right?" I asked, turning to Lass. He looked surprised that I was asking his opinion, and simply shrugged instead of answering vocally.

Kieran nodded in response to this, and stood up. "Allow me to pack a few things, if you will. This will not be a short journey. You may wait outside." And with that, he turned gracefully, his long cloak flaring out behind him, and marched off to the back of the dimly lit room. Lass closed his eyes and sighed, standing from his place and turning to leave, glancing once at me to see if I would follow. I set the remainder of my tea down and followed after him, collecting our bags and sitting down by the door, under the flickering torch.

It was only a few moments before Kieran was ready, stepping out of the door to meet us. He carried only his staff, and I wondered what he needed to pack. "Mind if we have a tag-along?" A skeleton emerged behind him, the same one from earlier, carrying a large black bag on its back.

I tried not to gag upon seeing it in better lighting. It looked grotesque. But I guess that's what I should have expected a dead thing to look like. Lass frowned at it, but shrugged, not having a problem with it. I shuddered, but found no real reason to complain about it. "As long as it stays out of my line of vision."

Kieran nodded to the skeleton, and it didn't follow right away as we started walking. "Oh, you can give your bags to him, if you'd like." I grimaced; the idea was simply too repulsive. I shook my head violently, purple hair flying wildly around me.

"I'd rather carry them myself…" I croaked.

"Suit yourself. Also, before we head off, would you mind if we stopped by Kaze'aze's old castle? There's something of mine that I'd like to get my hands on, now that she can't stop me from taking it back." Kieran looked out into the distance as he spoke.

"Will it detour us far from our destination?" Lass questioned, pacing between Kieran and I.

"Not much, we would head in that general direction to begin with. It might cost us an extra half a day of walking tops." Kieran gestured with his staff as he talked. I sighed, but agreed to stopping by there.

"You never answered us about who this mysterious man is, nor told us where we're going." Lass mused, almost to himself, carefully keeping his aqua eyes neutral.

Kieran looked down briefly, then back up again. "His name is Rufus. And he lives in the Underworld."

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A/N: DUN DUN DUN Rufus is going to make an appearance! Look forward to next chapter to see him!

I know this chapter was slow. I tried my hand at describing things a bit more, but… I know how much I suck at describing anything. A bit of plot advancement though, finally. Things start picking up after this.

Also, for those of you unaware, I really don't like Kieran. I dislike everything about him. And I made him, to boot. D: And this entire chapter was written OOC for every character. And I dislike it. But I'm not going to try any better because f*** writing. GC isn't even in maintenance. I just wanted to write. And it sucked. But blah. :/ I hate everything today.

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Please note, everything above this line I wrote... Months ago. I'm not kidding. I don't have a date sadly, but it was a long time ago. This chapter sucks, and I actually lied Rufus is not appearing in the next chapter. I decided to make the next chapter more angsty instead, go me. I'm currently writing the next chapter and waiting for GC to load so I can map out locations. I hope to have the next chapter uploaded sometime soon, but don't hold me to that as I am terrible with updates as I'm sure many of you are aware of.

Also, thank you to all those who continue to follow and support this story. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you guys. I would have long ago given up on seeing this story to an ending without you all.

Blackwing-Darkraven, yes, I love Arme 4th skills. /accepts 4 star cookies and shares them with you/

Crackbrain, Kieran is a messed up young man. But I guess that's what you get for dabbling in dark magic. As always, thank you for teaching me new words in your reviews!

Deselangel, it's people like you who really inspire me to actually continue this story. Sometimes I feel like there is no one who is enjoying this story but me, but it's people like you who remind me that there really are others who like the stuff I write. Thank you.

As always, read, review, and enjoy, though that may be tough with how slow this chapter moves, but I promise that it's all for a good cause.

-Barrows


	6. The Burial

Entering Kaze'aze's Castle once again felt impossible. I spent a good few moments staring up at the spires in front of me, frozen in place. Lass impatiently frowned at me, and Kieran's reaction I could not see under his hood. Yet they waited for me to regain my composure.

I almost felt Elesis' presence beside me, standing with me once more, but I knew I was just imagining it. Tears streamed down my face as I thought about the pain we had gone through to get to this very point, and I remembered Elesis' hard face keeping the pain buried, urging me on with words promising that the others would want us to be strong. I cried then too. I clutched tighter to my staff, holding it close to my chest, wishing I could go back and stop them all from dying; erasing the harm Kaze'aze had caused me. And with this thought, I strengthened my resolve. I would bring them back, no matter the cost.

I took a shaky breath and took a step forward, and the three of us entered together. Kieran knew a shortcut to Kaze'aze's chambers which took a different path than we had taken before, and involved climbing many stairs. Half-way up I began getting exhausted, and Lass told me to climb up onto his back. With everything going on, I was too drained to refuse, and let him piggy-back me up the rest.

Once at the top, Kieran glided over to a locked safe and murmured a spell, undoing the lock. He removed a dark glowing object, though I did not get a good enough look at it to tell what it was.

Apparently, Lass did. "Did you kill a newborn to get that?" At first, his question confused me, but I realized its meaning when Kieran stiffened and pulled his hood farther down to cover his face.

"This is a necessary tool for necromancer. And no, I did not harm a child to get this. What makes you think that?" he huffed, struggling with the black object within his cloak.

Lass unceremoniously dropped me on the ground and took a few quick steps forward to Kieran, quickly swiping the object from within his cloak. He then held it up, the taller male not having to stretch his arms far to keep it out of Kieran's reach. Kieran hissed, his hood falling back while he reached for the black object, revealing messy brown hair and a terrified face.

I finally got a good look at what it was. I recognized it instantly. It was a skull, made from black opal. A powerful object capable of channeling large amounts of dark magic. No doubt the tool Kaze'aze used to summon many of her minions.

"Give that back! That's dangerous in the hands of an idiot!" I'm fairly sure the currently jumping necromancer meant idiot as in someone with no knowledge of its power, but Lass was offended nonetheless. The thief stuffed the skull much too forcefully back into the gut of the necromancer, stalking back towards me, grabbing my arm and marching off.

I heard scurrying behind us as Kieran struggled to catch up, apologizing profusely for his poor choice of wording, though Lass ignored him. I smiled sheepishly at the necromancer, attempting to silently apologize for Lass' treatment of the man currently dragging me down the stairs.

As we got to the bottom of the stairs, Lass turned to leave, and I suddenly remembered something I wanted to do. "Wait, Lass! Stop!"

Lass stopped and turned around, glaring at me through narrowed eyes, the shadows of the castle casting ugly looks across his face, marring the handsome features I normally saw there. Lass stood wordlessly, waiting for why I asked him to stop, clearly impatient.

I fidgeted a moment before elaborating. "I… I'd like to go back… To where Elesis died. I'd like to give her a proper burial."

Lass' face darkened and he looked away. I knew he blamed himself for her death, and there would be no words I could say to rid him of these inner demons. He let go of my arm slowly and nodded, looking down to the ground.

I took the lead to the chamber where the three of us had originally fought, which already seemed like a lifetime ago, and at the same time felt like it had just been yesterday. The hallways and rooms we had fought monsters in then, the two of us, together, seemed eerily empty coming back now. I hurried through them, not wanting to stay longer than needed.

We arrived at the entrance to that chamber. Lass refused to enter, apologizing quietly. I understood why he wouldn't want to enter, and simply nodded and opened the door, Kieran entering with me.

The room was dark. The walls and ceiling here were still in once piece, none crumbling like the rest of the castle. There were also no windows in this room, so when the door closed behind us, Kieran and I were cast in complete blackness. At once, without any signal, the two of us both conjured lights to see by at the same time. I would have laughed at the act under any other circumstance, but I couldn't find the will to currently.

All at once I was overwhelmed with emotions. The room was still splattered with blood here and there from the fight, and there in the middle, surrounded by a large circle of red, was Elesis.

Or rather, the body of Elesis. That was a hard thought to swallow. Upon seeing her body, I broke down and began sobbing all over, finally succumbing to the grief I was unable to show when I first watched her die. Yet there, as I stumbled to the ground, I watched her die all over again, my heart breaking all over as if it was just now happening in front of me. Silently, Kieran passed me a kerchief, and ordered his creepy skeleton to carry Elesis' body. I thanked him for treating it right and not re-animating it in front of me.

He shook his head. "There are some things in this world that are not meant to be witnessed by normal human beings." Was all he said. The skeleton brought the body over to us, and Kieran helped me stand. I placed my hand over her eyes and muttered a prayer to Samsara, praying that her spirit be reborn and the cycle of her life continue. Yet the words meant nothing to me, as I had no hope for her to be reborn. In my heart, I prayed I could find a way to bring her back from the dead.

Kieran led me back out of the room, offering an arm for me to lean on for support. I gratefully took it. Though, once out of the room, Lass carefully shoved Kieran out of the way and took over as my role of support. I hardly noticed, lost in my own grief. I heard Kieran huff, but I don't think he really minded.

Once outside of the castle once more, Kieran asked me where I'd like to burry Elesis. I thought about it for a moment, and decided that it should be somewhere sunny and nice, beyond these stark mountains and eerie trees. Kieran assured me that his skeleton could carry her body as far as I needed, and I thanked him for all his help in this matter.

In the end, as far as we walked the rest of that day, we didn't find any place I liked to burry Elesis. Kieran was slightly annoyed that I was leading us in a different direction from where we needed to go next, but Lass for once didn't seem impatient about it. He'd often scour up trees to get a better view of our location and see if there were any nice places to make a grave.

So we made camp as the sun set. Kieran had no problem keeping the body with him in his tent during the night to keep it out of the weather, though the thought disgusted both Lass and myself. Kieran got some skeletal bodies of dead monsters to set up our tents while Lass went to find some food and I gathered some firewood. I was quite glad to avoid watching the scene. When I got back with an armload of wood, the two tents were erected in the small clearing and there was not a trace of the dead things left. I shivered and began making a small fire, pulling my pot out of my bag and using my magic to fill it with water. Kieran and I sat in silence while we waited for Lass to return, and it gave me more time to think about my friends.

I thought about how we would find their bodies. Lire and Ryan should still be back at Kamiki's castle, but Ronan… I thought about how he died, falling over that cliff. Would he ever get a proper burial? I cried at that thought, though Kieran made an awkward attempt to console me. He gave up when it seemed to make no difference, however.

Lass returned with something edible, and left it to Kieran to cook it while he sat with me, and just place a hand on my shoulder, and somehow this made things more bearable. It was as if knowing someone else understood made my problems seem so much smaller. I leaned against Lass' shoulder, and just cried. And he cried too, as I felt cold drops fall onto the top of my head.

We sat like that until Kieran passed my pot back to me, ordering us to eat. The stew wasn't terrible, but it was far from the best I had ever ate while travelling. Lass turned to me, "Remind me not to let Kieran cook next time."

The necromancer pretended to be offended, mocking Lass. "Oh, fine, if you're making fun of my cooking, does that mean we're even?"

Lass just quietly chucked, but said nothing. We continued to pass the stew around until we were all satisfied. As the moon rose in the sky, we retired to our tents to sleep.

However, I could not find sleep. I lay there, awake, for some time, my mind continuing to circle back to my friends. Tears leaked out of my eyes, though my body was too tired to really cry. After a while, I decided that the longer I continued to lay there, the worse off I'd be, and sided with going for a walk. I paid no mind to my surroundings, instead just walking aimlessly. I left my staff back in the tent Lass and I shared, letting the light of the moon and stars guide my way.

It wasn't long before I stumbled across a monster. Dazed, I fell to the ground, uncomprehending of my situation. The beast raised its claws to slash me, and I just stared at it, unseeing. Perhaps it would just be better if things ended this way. Easier. After all, Kaze'aze was dead now. So were all my friends. So was my mentor. What did I really have left to live for? Was it worth it to fight for that small chance of bringing my friends back? It would just be so much easier to give up. I wouldn't have to live with the pain anymore. Eternal rest seemed like a nice comfort. I resigned myself to my fate too easily, welcoming the ease death would bring.

Yet the monster never attacked. It took me a moment to register that it was no longer there. I looked around slowly, finally seeing it on the ground in front of me, bleeding, and clearly dead, a kunai piercing its neck.

I looked behind me. There was Lass, leaning against a tree, tossing a second kunai in his hand, catching it by the handle every time, just watching me. The stars lit up his blue eyes, reflecting back off of them, which made staring into them the same as staring into the night sky in daylight. I was caught off guard by this sight, so when he spoke I almost missed it.

"If you go off and kill yourself, how am I supposed to continue living?"

It took a moment for me to comprehend his words. "What do you mean?"

"If you die, what reason do I have to live, knowing I had a hand in your death too? Knowing how many lives were ended too soon at my hands? What else do I have to fight for? If even you, who has something they're fighting for, can't survive the weight of your grief, then what hope do I have?"

His words hit hard. Yet he was right in every way. I took a shaky breath to steady myself, and sat up taller. "You can fight to right every wrong you committed against your will. You can survive because you're not alone."

"So neither are you." I nodded, a small smile creeping onto my lips. He was right, I wasn't alone anymore. Somehow, though both broken, the two of us would find a way through this night and this pain. I then noticed the way the stars waved in his eyes, like his eyes were a starry ocean of the purest blue I had ever seen. Was he crying? Yet there was a small smile on his face, and no tears fell…

I turned back to the direction he was facing. His eyes weren't reflecting the sky after all, no, they were reflecting a small lake that was reflecting the sky. Despite the fallen, dead trees surrounding it, it looked peaceful. For a while, I just stared at the scene, taking it all in. Lass came and crouched beside me, watching it with me.

"I think I found the perfect place to put Elesis to rest."

* * *

A/N: Listening to angsty music while in a depressed mood really helps to get into the mood for writing this story. This chapter is so depressing, I'm sorry, but I feel like I just bared my soul in this chapter for you all to see. I hope you all appreciate this.

There is a Dangerous Times reference in there, yes, for the few people who might have picked up on it while reading.

Not a lot happens in this chapter, plot wise, but as I wrote I began letting out more and more of my depression, and this chapter slowly turned more and more depressing. So of course I wasn't going to lead it to Rufus yet. Sorry for all those looking forward to seeing Rufus. Depending how I'm feeling, the next chapter might actually get to him.

3 hours later and I think this is one of the longest chapters I've written in a long time.

I wrote this in the middle of being troubled by some drama, and I thank Fata Lunevis for being so supportive, of both me and this story. Thank you for the lovely review and the favorite/follow. Angst was about Arme, since she is the main character, I doubt anyone wants to read angst about my silly OC, lol.

Rufus actually does appear in the next chapter. Woohoo.

I'm updating 2 days in a row, someone check my temperature.

Read, review, and enjoy, and thank you for all those who continue to be supportive of this story. You are truly wonderful people. It is an honor to have such amazing fans. I love and treasure you all.

-Barrows


	7. The Arbiter

Disclaimer: I do not own Grand Chase, but I own Kieran, but if you'd like him, he's your for free. /cries/ I'm sorry this chapter focuses so heavily on him, I hated it too.

* * *

It had been two days since we buried Elesis' body by that small lake. We were heading to the portal to the Underworld now. Unfortunately, the closest portal was through the mountains to the North, so the trek was a hard one. Lass' stamina granted him few problems with the uneven terrain, and Kieran just created some golem monster to carry him, the lazy sod. That left me often lagging behind the rest of the group. I refused to let one of Kieran's creepy monsters help me. How could I bring my friends back if I didn't have the strength to make it on my own? My slow speed made the trip longer than Kieran originally planned for, and though he complained about it, he didn't really seem to care.

The sun was beginning to set once more when Lass suggested we set up camp for the night. However, Kieran blew him off, saying we were close enough to the portal that we might as well continue until we arrived. Two heads turned backwards towards me to gain my opinion. Panting and breathless, I urged the two to continue with hand gestures. If the portal was close, I wanted to get there.

The sun had completely set, the moon rising high into the sky by the time we made it to the portal. Even Lass was tired by the time we arrived. Kieran hopped off his golem and reported that we would not be able to cross through the portal without protection, so we'd have to wait for him on this side of it until he returned.

Lass wasn't exactly happy with this. "Well, how can we gain protection?" I could tell Lass didn't trust Kieran to return, and quite frankly I didn't completely trust the shady necromancer either.

Kieran simply pulled the black opal skull out from his cloak and held it up. "This is what allows me to cross. It's been charmed to allow me access into the Underworld, and I have undergone the training required for my body to traverse to the dimension without being destroyed. It shouldn't take me long to return with Rufus, though I hope you have gold."

I nodded, pulling a large sack out of my bag. "Plenty, from all the missions we've completed…" I trailed off, sadness clouding my eyes at the thought of working together with my teammates to earn this gold.

Kieran mused, "May I borrow some? Pardon, borrow is a bad term. May I have some to pay Rufus? Money drives that man; it's the best way I can think of to gain his help."

"Of course," I handed Kieran the sack, and he seemed shocked, "offer him what you need to. That's not my only sack of gold, either. I have 4 others from…" I trailed off once again, and Kieran simply nodded, understanding at once.

"I shall be back shortly, then." Kieran turned towards the portal, chanting some words and waving his staff around in almost melodic motions. I watched, learning what I could from witnessing a spell unfamiliar to me, when Lass tapped on my shoulder.

"Do you mind setting up camp? I'll go look for something to eat." His voice sounded off, and I assumed witnessing the necromancer working this spell spooked him. I could see why, the portal reacted to Kieran's words and in turn it looked like it began to eat him, transporting him to another dimension entirely. I shivered watching, and turned away.

"Sure," was all I said, trying to keep my voice steady. I pulled out the required materials to build the tent, and Lass took off.

An hour later and we were both asleep in the tent.

It took an entire day before Kieran returned, however.

* * *

Traversing dimensions always made him sick. The thin man clutched his stomach while leaning heavily against his large staff to regain his balance. After his vision returned and his stomach emptied itself on the ground beside him, the man straightened up and began his search.

Kieran was searching for a specific bounty hunter named Rufus Wilde. He knew the best place to find a bounty hunter would be the place where all bounties were set and dolled out. However, knowing the location did not mean finding it would be easy. The Underworld was quite the maze.

But Kieran had many years of experience navigating this place. It took him much longer than it would have taken a demon native to this place to find the structure, but Kieran was proud of himself nonetheless for finding it, in his mind, quickly.

The place was bustling with Haros, demons native to the realm. Finding one brown head from all the many demons within the structure would prove difficult. Kieran tisked, but began to search. He wasn't surprised to see so many Haros in one place; this was the busiest place in the entire Underworld, after all. Kieran pushed through the crowd to the desk that gave out bounties to successful bounty hunters. It was there that he chose to wait; if the bounty hunter wanted to be found, Kieran was sure he would appear soon enough.

Kieran was not exactly a patient man, however, and quickly grew bored enough to summon a dead rat skeleton to play with. He amused himself with scaring random demons, watching the Haros scream as a dead rat would scurry between their legs or in front of their line of vision. How could those who dealt out death so often be so scared of a little rat?

However, Kieran was interrupted from his game by someone yanking down his hood. Kieran began reaching behind him upon instinct to pull it back up, speaking up in annoyance, "Hey, no need to be-"

Kieran glanced over his shoulder to see who pulled down his hood, and stopped mid-sentence when he came face to face with the exact man he was looking for. Angry crimson eyes glared at him through a messy mop of curly brown hair. "I won't bail you out if you get caught using dark arts down here again, I've told you." A cold voice warned him, tugging the hood within his hand, slightly choking the shorter necromancer.

"Ah Rufus, I knew I'd find you eventually." Kieran mumbled, rescuing his hood from Rufus' grasp and rubbing his neck in irritation.

"You waste my time, what do you want?" Rufus demanded impatiently. Kieran quickly procured the sack of gold from within his cloak and held it up for Rufus to see. Rufus made a grab at the bag, but Kieran pulled it away before he could grab it. "Well? What is it?"

"It's gold, duh. Hear me out and it's yours." Kieran began to explain what was going on within Aernas, describing Arme's situation and her goals. Rufus seemed disinterested until Kieran mentioned that Arme had more gold for him if he'd help. Without a second word, Rufus agreed to help, shocking Kieran entirely.

"I didn't know you could be so easily convinced." Kieran teased, watching Rufus tossing his newly acquired bag of money.

"Anyone willing to give this much gold to you to recruit me is a fool," Rufus remarked, "and they have earned my curiosity. This girl, Arme? If she's so desperate to bring her friends back…" Rufus chuckled darkly to himself. "If she is to succeed, and from the way you describe her she very well could, I want to be there to witness such a scene. Or watch her fall."

"You never change."

"Change is overrated, I was once told," Rufus mocked, leading the way back to the portal. Kieran simply growled and followed without more complaint, deciding against testing the demon further.

* * *

Lass was just suggesting that we go to sleep for the night when the portal began to react. The two of us watched in awe as Kieran and a slightly taller, messy haired, pale man walked out of the portal. Beside me, I felt Lass stiffen as we got a better look at the demon Kieran brought back with him. I looked up to Lass; his cerulean eyes were wide with shock, and I could almost see his thoughts whirling within his eyes.

"Lass?" I asked, tugging on his sleeve gently. In a moment that happened in a single heartbeat, the demon turned and met eyes with Lass, and Lass stood up with on fluid motion, drawing out his daggers, a snarl marring his face. The demon narrowed scarlet eyes and drew two guns from holsters at his hips and held them to Lass.

Two voices chorused "It's you!"

* * *

A/N: To those who may be curious about the extent of Kieran's powers… He's basically a Necromancer from Diablo 2. That's where he came from, that's what inspired him, and all of what he can do usually comes from there.

I'm also, apparently, in the middle of some drama with a couple people from here, though I'm honestly not quite sure what I did this time to anger these people... And this drama is beginning to affect my friends as well. Either way, I'm taking a long and much needed break from all the, err... "One shots" I write about a specific couple. It's hard to take them seriously when the one person who inspired me the most to like them ended up being the cause of all this anxiety in my life. And I need to concentrate on school right now, so I have no room for this drama, so I'm just done. I don't think anyone will really miss my writing about that couple though. XD

I'm so drained right now... Too much going on. This is beginning to affect my writing.

Sorry this chapter focuses so much on Kieran...

Fata Lunevis: /Let's you love me/  
I'm glad you felt the feels! I worked my ass off to make the feels EVERYWHERE. XD  
You now know where Elesis was laid to rest.  
How is Kieran adorable /scoffs/  
I MADE IT 3 IN A ROW PRAISE ME. llD

Hospes: I am glad you also like Lass and Arme! I am also glad that you enjoyed the angst in this story.

Crackbrain: I made it 3 days in a row. And I feel quite proud of myself for, for once, understanding every word in your review without having to use Google. XD (I don't mean this as a bad thing, I quite like learning words from you)

To everyone else, I hope you continue to read and enjoy Carry On, and thank you to all my supporters and friends because I honestly would not be able to deal with all of what's going on without you all. As always, read, review, and enjoy, and thank you so, so much.

-Barrows


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